There is a word in my heart for you as we step into 2019. It's the word... ARISE.

The word arise simply means to get up and get going.

This may be the answer you have been looking for. Sometimes we make overcoming our difficulties a bigger problem than it needs to be.

You might be asking God...

“What do I do now?”

“How can I survive this?"

"How can I afford to do that?”

God’s answer to you may well be what it was to many other people in the Bible who experienced difficulties and overwhelming despair and disappointment with life.

ARISE!

Moses led the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years. They were completely dependent on him for everything. For four decades, they looked to him to take them into the Promised Land, but he died before they got there. The people were in mourning, confused, and they were uncertain of what to do next. God spoke to Joshua, who was to be their new leader, and said,

Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them. Joshua 1:2 (NKJV)

Joshua and the people already knew Moses was dead so why did God say, “Moses is dead”? I believe it was an emphatic statement intended to wake them up to the fact they only had two choices:

To sit there and die, or

Get up and get going!

In John 5, when Jesus encountered a crippled man at the Pool of Bethesda who was waiting for a miracle, He asked the man how long he had been in that condition. The man replied, “Thirty-eight years.” Did Jesus say, “Okay, well you've waited this long, you might as well keep waiting and maybe something good will happen”? No!

Jesus said unto him, “Arise, take up your bed, and walk.” John 5:8 (ASV)

“ARISE! Get up and get going!”

How many times have you've been knocked down by life, poor choices, and the devastating choices of others? God's Word gives us clear instructions on what to do. Keep on going. Keep on moving.

When I fall, I shall arise. Micah 7:8

To get up, to stand up, is a decision we have to intentionally make, not something that just automatically happens. We must choose to get up and and get going and not be trapped in the past, fear, or disappointment.

There are days I feel completely discouraged and overwhelmed. Everyone has those days, but what we do with these emotions, determines the outcome. When those feelings come, I remember Isaiah 60:1.

Arise [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you—rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Isaiah 60:1 (AMP)

All the promises given in this verse are determined by a specific action -ARISE. If we refuse to do our part, God will not do be able to do His part.

No matter what the circumstances are that have tried to keep you down, arise right now. God’s glory will come and meet you right where you are. His strength will be made perfect in your weakness and those circumstances will no longer have dominion over you.